Whistle
by AnimeDutchess
Summary: Oneshot, Palletshippy hints! It's Ash's eighth birthday, and all he wants is a whistle...little does he know, he might get a little more...


_**Whistle**_

By AnimeDutches

A/N: Well, dang, if it isn't a new Palletshipping oneshot! I haven't written one of these in a while…but it should be pretty good.

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Disclaimer: Me no own-y the Pokeymahns! So don't sue me, bitch!

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This is dedicated to Wonnykins. Her birthday's on March 5th, so be sure to wish her a good one! This story is based on something in the roleplay we've been doing…don't worry; you don't need to read it to understand the story.

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It was a whistle.

It was a red whistle.

It was a shiny, red whistle.

And Ash wanted it _so_ badly!

His eighth birthday wasn't going to come for another month, and yet he went around town, making sure that everyone knew that all he wanted for his birthday was that one whistle. Heck, he didn't care if he didn't even get a cake, so long as he got the whistle.

His constant reminders drove everyone crazy. Old Man Jenkins down the street was tempted to tear out his petunias and toss them at the boy whenever he happened to pass. Miss Kelly, his teacher, was constantly trying to calm him down in the middle of class, and had already sent a few letters to his mother about his excited outbursts. Everyone in Pallet Town hoped that he got the damn whistle so that he would shut up.

The one person who wasn't tormented by this desire for a whistle day and night, however, was Gary. Yes, he knew Ash wanted the whistle. Yes, his friend would often go into tangents about how nice it looked, and how it would probably make such a nice sound. But he could see that Ash was restraining himself when they played together. Maybe it was because Gary himself had at least seven of those whistles, one in each different color. He'd tried to get Ash to take one, but the other boy would not have it.

"They're yours!" Ash would protest, one of his fists clenched in a determined fashion. "They've got your spit on 'em and everything!"

Of course, that was a…gross reason…but Ash stuck to it. He would not take what belonged to someone else! He would earn it himself! And if the only way to earn it was to wait until his birthday, then so be it!

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"Mommy…"

When Delia Ketchum turned around, she saw her son staring up at her with wide eyes and a huge grin. "Morning, Mommy!" He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her waist in a tight hug. Delia smiled, and patted her son on the head. He was still such a short thing…and so sweet.

"Good morning, Ash, sweetie. Did you sleep well?"

"Uh-huh!" He beamed up at her. "I had the best sleep in the world!" The truth was that he had a hard time falling asleep last night; he was so excited for today. "You know what today is?"

"Of course I know!" She cupped his face in her hands and grinned. "Why wouldn't I? It's your birthday!" She kissed him on the forehead and turned him around. "Now, go sit down and eat your breakfast. I'll join you in a minute."

"Okay…" As Ash left for the table, he stopped, and turned around.

"What?"

"…" Ash put on the sweetest face he could, and held his hands out to his mother. "Pleeease, Mommy?" Delia blinked at this, and then laughed. She knew what he wanted.

"If you're really that anxious for it," She said, smiling, "I'll give you your present after lunch. Alright?" Ash seemed to wilt at this.

"You can't give it to me now?"

"No! It's too early."

"Alright…"

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To Ash, lunchtime couldn't come fast enough. His mom, after breakfast, disappeared into her room for the rest of the morning, leaving Ash free to do whatever he wanted. Even with this great ultimatum, he didn't do much; he just dragged all the chairs away from the kitchen table and made a fort with his blanket. There were all kinds of things a little kid could do in a fort, like playing pretend. Needless to say, Ash managed to enjoy himself.

He was having so much fun, in fact, that he did not hear his mother come back downstairs. He was in the middle of pretending to be a Bulbasaur when Delia poked her head in from under the blanket-roof of the fort.

"It's time for lunch, Bulbasaur," She said, jokingly, and with a cute cry of 'Bulba!', Ash crawled out from his fort. Together, they put the blanket away and brought the chairs back to the table to start lunch.

Ash sat there quietly, nibbling the ham sandwich his mother had made for him, staring out into space and swinging his legs back and forth. Delia was surprised at this; wasn't it just yesterday that she couldn't get him to be quiet? Either way, she wasn't going to encourage him to talk. She needed the quiet.

Soon, lunch had been finished, and as Delia took both dirty plates and put them into the sink, Ash watched her, an impatient glint in his eyes. He started to bounce up and down in his seat. He couldn't wait!

"Alright, Ash…" Delia turned around to face him. "Wait right here, okay?" He nodded, and she rushed off to another part of the house.

Ash was so excited, he could hardly contain it! He kept bouncing, and his smile seemed to be permanent. _Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy…_

He seemed to freeze, however, when his mother came back with a big, rectangular box. Why would a little red whistle need such a big box? Unless…it was a trick! His mom put the little whistle in the big box to make him think he got something else! Yes, that had to be it…

"Happy Birthday, sweetie," Delia said with a sad smile. She put the present on the table, and let her son open it.

"…" Ash reached into the now opened box and pulled out a set of soft, blue pajamas. They looked like the most comfortable pajamas he'd ever seen…He looked up at his mother, a blank expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, sweetie…" Delia looked a little sad. "I know you wanted that whistle, but we really, really don't have the money right now, and you needed new pajamas. Your old ones are too small for you." She leaned down so that she was eye-level with Ash. "I promise, as soon as I have the money, I'll get you the whistle. Okay?"

For a minute, Delia thought for sure that Ash would cry, throw a tantrum, but he didn't. He gave her a small smile and hugged her.

"It's okay, Mom. They're nice." He said. He then let her go, and put the pajamas on the table.

"I'm gonna go out and play, okay?"

"Huh?" Delia blinked. "Alright, sweetie…be sure to be back before dinner."

"Alright…"

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Ash spent his afternoon walking around town slowly, looking at each and every house that passed by. He'd been planning on running around with his new whistle, blowing it loudly in front of every house until someone came out, so he could show them that he had indeed gotten the whistle for a gift. Now that he didn't have one, he didn't want to see anybody. They'd surely ask to see the whistle he didn't have.

As the sun started to sink lower into the sky, Ash resigned himself to sitting at the base of a tree, far away from most of the houses, on a hill. He brought his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and cried…only a little bit.

It wasn't fair! He usually never asked for anything for his birthday! And hadn't he been talking about this for a whole month? Mom could've gotten the money in that amount of time, couldn't she? It just wasn't fair…

After a while, he stopped crying. He felt the wind ruffle his hair, the rays of the sun keeping him warm. He planned on staying there for a little while; his mother didn't serve dinner until sunset, anyway…

"Heee-eeeey!"

Ash's head shot up, and he looked around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. He spotted a familiar figure scrambling up the hill towards him…

"G-Gary?!?" He said, surprised. Ash hastily wiped any remaining tears away from his eyes; he didn't want to seem like a wuss. He watched as the other boy made his way up the hill. When Gary arrived, he leaned on his knees and panted. Ash gave him a confused look. "What…what're you doing here?"

"Haah…haah…" Gary glanced up at him. "Lemme…catch my…breath!"

"Oh! Okay…"

After a minute, Gary straightened out again, and folded his arms across his chest. "Well…"

"Well…?"

"I've been looking for you all afternoon!"

"Huh?" Ash watched, confused, as Gary reached into his pocket and pulled out…

A whistle. A red whistle. A shiny, red whistle with a white bow tied around it. Ash blinked, and stared at it.

"It took me all morning to get my sister to come with me to the store," Gary said, taking Ash's hand and pressing the whistle into it. "Then it took a while to find the right whistle, and then we had to pay for it…and we almost got lost coming back! I wrapped it when I got home, and I went to find you at your house, but your mom said you'd just left, so I ran all around town to find you, and well…yeah!" Gary beamed at him. "Happy Birthday, Ash!"

Ash couldn't believe it. He looked at the whistle in his hand, and then at Gary. Who would've thought his friend would go to such lengths for him? And for a stupid whistle, at that?

A strange feeling bubbled up in Ash's chest. He clutched the whistle in his hand. He felt like he could just…go over to Gary and kiss him, like people did in the movies. But that would be kinda icky, to kiss your best friend, wouldn't it?

"Why don't you play it?" When Gary spoke, Ash looked up at him. His thoughts quickly evaporated, and he gave his friend a warm, genuine smile.

"Okay!" He said, and proceeded to blow into the whistle. It sounded nicer than he dreamed it would.

_**Fin**_

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A/N: Hells yeah! That had great pacing! And it was cute, and sweet…I know I enjoyed writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it…especially you, Won! Happy Birthday! Just think of this fic as a whistle. XP

Well, enjoy yourselves out there! Ja Ne! - AnimeDutchess


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